Colts Off-Season Needs - Defense
Having looked at what the Colts need on offense last week, it's now time to take a look on the defensive side of the ball.
General Manager Ryan Grigson drafted just two defensive players last year – nose tackle Josh Chapman and outside linebacker Tim Fugger – and neither saw playing time in 2012. Chapman ended the year on injured reserve whilst Fugger didn't even make the 53 man roster.
And whilst defensive coordinator Greg Manusky did a good job with a lack of talent, the emphasis will be on building a strong defense for Chuck Pagano to work with.
The transition to a 3-4 defense featured some players that weren't natural scheme fits, so the recruitment policy on defense will revolve around bringing in players familiar with the 3-4 alignment, and here are plenty of positions on defense where the Colts need help.
NOSE TACKLE
The key to a 3-4 defense is a solid nose tackle – something the Colts don't currently have. Regular starter Antonio Johnson was mostly ineffective in the role and is set to hit free agency, whilst last year's free agency signing Brandon McKinney was placed on Injured Reserve during pre-season, and we don't know whether he will return to the team in 2013. There is plenty of hope for aforementioned draft pick Chapman, who Grigson regularly praised despite his absence. Chapman earned a reputation at Alabama for being the best run stopper in college football, and only slipped to the 5th round because of an injury. Regardless, the Colts would be well served to add an experienced nose tackle in case Chapman can't overcome his injury, or bring McKinney back for another year.
DEFENSIVE END
The defensive line needs some work doing, as seen at nose tackle. At defensive end, there are plenty of questions but very few answers. Cory Redding performed well at the start of the season, but he's 32 in 2013 and it showed, as Redding consistently struggled with injuries in 2012. Fili Moala looked more at home in a 3-4 scheme, but he's set to become a free agent, and with a disappointing body of work since he was drafted out of USC in 2009, there's no guarantee that he will return. 2011 draft pick Drake Nevis ended the year on Injured Reserve for the second consecutive year, raising major questions over his long term reliability, whilst Ricardo Mathews, Lawrence Guy and Clifton Geathers were only rotational options. Adding an interior pass rusher to the defensive line will be high on the list of priorities, and there are plenty of good options in the draft.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
One of the big problems for the Colts in 2012 was that they failed to generate a consistent pass rush. As a result of the 3-4 switch, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis had to adapt to standing up, rather than having their hands in the dirt, which they had been doing since entering the league. Mathis performed fairly well, but Freeney struggled both with performances and injury. Outside of those two, the Colts saw limited production from Jerry Hughes and Jamaal Westermann. With Freeney almost certainly about to leave the team, adding another pass rushing option at outside linebacker.
CORNERBACK
We all knew the problems in the Colts' secondary before the season started. Grigson made an aggressive move to improve the cornerback position by trading for Vontae Davis from the Miami Dolphins, giving up a 2nd round pick in the process. Davis was performing at a high level in the final weeks of the season, but the play from everyone else at the position was well below par. Jerraud Powers was placed on Injured Reserve for the third season in a row, but was struggling to impress in a press-man coverage scheme. This left Cassius Vaughn and Darius Butler to start, and whilst both had their moments, they weren't good enough to be confident with in the future.
SAFETY
Tom Zbikowski was simply a disappointment having arrived from Baltimore with Pagano. There were too many missed tackles and he was just ineffectual in all facets of the game, raising the possibiltiy of a new safety being brought in. According to Jason LaCanfora, many people around the league believe that another Ravens Safety will follow Pagano to Indianapolis – 34 year old Ed Reed. This move would most likely see Antoine Bethea move to Strong Safety, with Reed playing Free Safety, as he has done throughout his glittering career. Whether such a move comes to fruition is yet to be seen, but even an ageing Ed Reed looks like an upgrade over Zbikowski.
i have always heard that a 3-4 defense is more expensive to man than a 4-3.
Obviously, this year money is not a problem. I'm just curious if the very knowledgeable people who post here, think this is a wise long term strategy. There is going to come a time that the Colts are going to have to pay Luck, and we are going to want to protect him and surround him with players to take advantage of his immense talents.
Is it wise to attract and develop players for a defensive scheme that 3 or 4 years down the road, the Colts won't be able to afford?
@DougEngland It's the other way around. LBers are always cheaper than defensive lineman, good ones anyway. There's a reason why Suggs sought to get himself classified as a DE rather than a LB when he was franchised.
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You could have saved yourself a lot of work and just let the title serve as the post content as well. ;)
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For what it's worth, both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. have the Colts selecting Johnthan Banks, 6'2" CB out of Mississippi State in their latest Mock Draft 2.0s that came out today. I know little and less about college football and I'd be lying if I said I knew anything about Johnthan Banks (other than the fact that his name is missing a letter), but according to the draft "experts" he's the 2nd best CB in the draft and likely the best value at our position (24). 6'2" is pretty decent size for a CB, maybe someone with more knowledge of the college game can enlighten me as to his prospects.
@Colt_Following It is really not worth much, I mean other than addressing an area of need and adding some reason to why it is basically a guess like Olly said.
But I will say I would not be happy with the pick, his ball skills are good, but I think he has major shortcomings in coverage. I would rather grab Xavier Rhodes if we go CB at this pick, I like his man to man coverage better, and I feel he has a higher ceiling, and he has decent speed from what I have seen, something Banks does not have.
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@Colt_Following I just saw that. Those two never agree on anything (and I think they were both wrong on every pick after #2 last year). But they do tons of research. I'd be happy with that pick. Maybe we should get Vick's opinion?
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@smonroe @Colt_Following Mocks are ultimately a massive guess. Their overall grade on each prospect is more important than the mock positions of course.
I'd say that by the end of the season we had the best worst defense in the league. Yes, KC gutted us with the run, but we ended up giving up one TD in each of the last four games. And it turned out that we held the Ravens to their lowest score in the playoffs. Considering all the injuries and new players that's pretty impressive, and a testament to our coaches. I guess I'm saying we're close!
@smonroe I'd agree, but if we could add Ed Reed, Paul Kruger and Mike Jenkins in Free Agency, then bring McKinney back, could add a Dlineman in the draft. I really like Kawann Short, could play DE or NT for us.
@OllyDawes @smonroe I like short too, but sure about him as NT in the NFL though, but he would be a pretty solid DE though, I think in the draft it will either be OG or a defensive position other than ILB.
